The f***wit manager who engineered my dismissal by way of "redundancy" was later made to re-apply for his job, as were all managers within the company. I'm delighted to say he was the only one who didn't get his job back.

Unfortunately, it didn't get me my job back either, but I wouldn't have taken it anyway.

I appreciate that this doesn't help you very much. This "re-apply" game seems to be getting more common these days. Although I've never experienced it myself, from what I've seen and heard, it seems to be a "musical chairs" affair. It's a way of getting rid of the deadwood by reducing the number of jobs on those occasions when, for whatever reason, they can't use a normal redundancy or disciplinary procedure . If they do it this way, they can actually increase the number of jobs and bring in new or better people.
It's a bit like being chased by a bear - you don't need to run faster than the bear, you just need to run faster than the bloke next to you. So if there are some clowns on your team who aren't doing their job properly, you've got nothing to worry about. On the other hand, if you've specialised in seeing how far you can push your boss (and your luck), I'd start looking for another billet now.
